Our latest product offering is DIYIR an Infrared DIY Soldering Kit. DIYIR, is our new soldering kit to create an advanced IR remote control module for use with Arduino, RPi or any other MCU/Microcontroller system (not included). It uses the same advanced components and circuitry as our other MakeIR modules and works directly with IRremote, IRLib and our own AnalysIR or with your own custom firmware or sketches. It is targeted at beginners, soldering courses and experienced users alike. Soldering skills and/or supervision is required to build the kit. More details along with the tools required are covered in the instructional WiKi pages. We want to encourage makers to undertake IR remote control projects and to provide an affordable way to acquire the very best IR technology for your projects or use with AnalysIR. Popular projects include control of TVs, STBs, Air Conditioner units etc. Continue reading Infrared DIY Soldering Kit launched→

Following the release of our highly popular A.IR Shield Nano, we have received numerous requests about using the module with platforms other than Windows. Because the module uses a standard Serial USB interface for communicating, experienced users can easily integrate it into any other platform. To assist other users we have now released an A.IR Shield Nano Python Script. Continue reading A.IR Shield Nano Python Script – Raspberry Pi (RPi)→

The latest member of our MakeIR series of devices & kits is the A.IR Shield ESP8266/ESP32 Tx. This shield works out of the box with AnalysIR and is essentially plug & play, with additional custom Firmware options. This shield is a ‘sibling’ to our related TRx shield, and features IR multi-send only vs the send & receive of the TRx shield. The shield plugs into a Wemos D1 Mini (ESP8266) with headers or any pin-compatible clone (e.g. ESP32 Mini D1). Although designed specifically for AnalysIR, users can also upload any sketches that run on the ESP for Infrared remote control projects by customising the included firmware. A.IR Shield ESP8266/ESP32 Tx is built with only the highest quality IR components available and boasts dual Infrared emitters with configurable IR Power. The supplied firmware uniquely supports hardware PWM for sending IR signals (on ESP8266). Continue reading Preview: A.IR Shield ESP8266/ESP32 Tx, a high-end IR Shield→

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We have posted a brief 4 minute “Using AnalysIR with Flirc – Video tutorial” showing how to use the Flirc USB device as an Infrared remote control signal source for AnalysIR. The video is available now via YouTube, by clicking the image below. The tutorial covers the semi-automatic method we have used to support this feature, which should greatly enhance the Flirc Device and enable more troubleshooting with problematic signals or just simply as an additional powerful feature for the Flirc device. There is no need to update your Flirc installation or firmware, provided you have the latest revision installed.

The latest member of our MakeIR series of devices & kits is the A.IR Shield ESP8266 TRx.

A.IR Shield ESP8266 TRx with Wemos D1 Mini

This shield works out of the box with AnalysIR and is essentially plug & play, with additional custom Firmware options. The shield plugs into a Wemos D1 Mini (ESP8266) with headers or any pin-compatible clone. Although designed specifically for AnalysIR, users can also upload any sketches that run on the Wemos for Infrared remote control projects by customising the included firmware. A.IR Shield ESP8266 TRx is built with only the highest quality IR components available and boasts dual Infrared emitters with configurable IR Power. The supplied firmware uniquely supports hardware PWM for sending IR signals.

A.IR Shield block diagram ESP8266 TRx

We have provided a link below to the product data sheet and would welcome feedback on additional, nice to have or missing features, if any. Please read the data sheet for a more detailed description of the A.IR ESP8266 TRx shield. The shield is now available to purchase via our web shop.

A.IR Shield ESP8266 TRx Wemos D1 Mini side-by-side

Custom Firmware

Although designed to work with AnalysIR, users can customise the provided firmware to send and receive IR signals via web requests, thus making integration into projects easy. More advanced users can integrate into platforms like Alexa or similar.

Also check out our example for creating your own IR send sketch for a variety of Signals (Air Conditioner, HEX, RAW & protocol based) using this shield with a Wemos D1 Mini or any ESP8266.

In our previous post we showed how to generate stable IR carrier signals using the ESP8266 NodeMCU module. A feature of the original approach was that the output IR signal was inverted and required some additional circuitry to invert it again before transmission. Since the original post we have figured out a method to output a non-inverted or standard IR signal thus removing the need for the additional circuitry. This is achieved by using what turned out to be a very simple setting hidden deep in the ESP8266 UART registers which is covered below. Like all simple solutions it also threw up some other quirks of the ESP8266 NodeMCU, which were eventually overcome with the addition of a simple resistor. The Updated ESP8266 NodeMCU Backdoor uPWM Hack for IR signals is detailed below – including updated source firmware, new circuit diagram and explanation of the ‘quirk’. Read on….

We received our ESP8266 NodeMCU several months ago it has been difficult to find a working example of Hardware PWM to generate crisp Infrared carrier signals. Most posts we have read suggest that there is no PWM readily available on any of the supported platforms. As we have already shown with Arduinos and the Particle Photon we figured it would be possible to use a spare UART pin on the ESP8266 NodeMCU to achieve our goal. After some initial success we encountered some watchdog timeouts/resets and it seemed like the uPWM hack would not be possible on the ESP8266 Node MCU platform. For a few weeks we ‘parked’ the effort and today we decided to try again with all of the latest and updated firmware available from the ESP8266 community via the Arduino IDE. This time we were successful and the ESP8266 NodeMCU Backdoor uPWM Hack for IR signals using works!

One of the most popular projects involving Infrared remote control, is to use an Arduino to control an Air conditioner (AC) system. However, AC signals are usually very long and take up a lot of SRAM on a standard Arduino. Experienced users will go about reverse engineering the AC protocol to make the sketch fit within the 2K Bytes of SRAM. Many hobbyists will struggle, even with the help of tools like AnalysIR to guide them. In this post we cover sending long AC Signals from Flash with IRremote. IRremote (along with IRLib) is a popular open-source library for sending and receiving IR remote control signals with Arduino. The demo code covered in this sketch extends our previous sendRAW example by demonstrating how to store many long AC signals in Flash with little or no SRAM overhead.

AnalysIR screen-shot showing the signals captured from the sendRAW_Flash sketch (click or more detail)

A few months ago a new user to AnalysIR, from Canada, asked us to assist in adding ESP8266 NodeMCU Infrared decoding over WiFi into AnalysIR. We set about making some upgrades to AnalysIR for this and in double quick time he had AnalysIR accepting IR signals from the ESP8266 over WiFi. He stressed the ease of use of the support within the Arduino IDE for ESP8266 devices and he wasn’t kidding. This motivated us to go and order an ESP8266 for US$3.60 including shipping from Aliexpress. Just the other day the NodeMCU arrived, presumably delayed somewhat by the extended XMAS holidays & celebrations, in this part of the world. So we set about porting our existing firmware for Arduino & Photon over to the new device.

Marco is a volunteer for an organization (NSW Australia) that builds custom aids for people with disability, and has recently been looking at a project to create a ‘very large button’ IR remote control for a cable TV Set Top Box (STB). The custom unit needed basic functions (Channel Up/Down, Volume Up/Down and Power On/Off). Commercially available large button remotes have buttons that are still too small and/or they have too many buttons. Soon he hit a roadblock trying to capture some difficult Foxtel signals and searched all over the web looking for a solution. Needless to say, nothing worked out for him until he came across AnalysIR via Google. Once he started Troubleshooting the Big Button Infrared remote control with AnalysIR the root cause of his problems became obvious.

AnalysIR decodes over 75 of the most common base CIR protocols formats, including TVs, STBs, Air Conditioners & other variants/devices, and boasts a comprehensive range of features to help you as a Maker or Professional. This translates into many 10,000s of actual devices. It also analyzes 99.9%+ of all infrared remote control signals.

Well, I actually managed to sort it out,…Thanks to AnalysIR, I have determined the {Steering wheel} controls send in the Disney{Serial} format, and that the signals get repeated. Before AnalysIR, all I had was basic output from a soundcard oscilloscope…

Arduino User, Australia

Adding the networking capability to AnalysIR is great for me.

IR Professional - CO, USA

Thanks, it is working! With the correct parameters now I can rework the code for my needs. AnalysIR is a great piece of SW and the support by you guys is exceptional!

ESP8266 User, Sweden

I just wanted to say what an awesome program and customer service this has been for me. Your program saved me hours of frustration by helping to identify a firmware issue of my control system, as well as adding commands from captured remotes. You guys rock!

USB IR Toy User, Tx USA

Now i can figure out the correct {AC signal} checksum. (SUM, ignore 1 bytes @ end.) Finally i found it! Thanks for your great software.

AnalysIR User, Hungary

My main interest in your project was your ability to detect {modulation} frequencies.

Arduino User, IN USA

Looking forward to trying out your software, it looks amazing.

AnalysIR User, Australia

I compliment you on some outstanding programming technology developments.

Arduino User, Australia

I am writing to let you know that I just used AnalysIR to decode one of my Aircon and I was able to get workable on/off codes in just one try (and that too in 5 minutes). AnalysIR is superb and a huge time saver, I wish I had purchased it weeks earlier instead of trying to decode myself. Amazed and delighted by your product.

IoT User, Singapore

What can I say? I’m not a programmer, I’m skilled in hardware, but with AnalysIR software and 2/3 hours, my Samsung AR9000 series AC system is now controlled by Arduino!!! Also tested NodeMCU to acquire the signal and also in this case all works very well! …..Thanks, thanks, thanks!!! A fantastic software!

Arduino User, Italy

Thanks for very nice sw & hw and your support 🙂I´m sure this gear will {also} help me in other future projects.

ESP8266 User, Sweden

I’ve figured out my AC Sanyo RCS-AR1 checksum. …. Once again. Thank you so much for your time and effort to develop {such a} wonderful application.

ESP8266 NodeMCU User, CA USA

I’m very happy your software works fine and I found the IR protocol of my Optik IPTV remote control, it’s RCMM, this protocol is new for me…. ….Thank you very much, AnalysIR will be a good tool for my next small robot project.

That is Awesome! Great work with this software. I have and will recommend it to anyone I know that would be interested in IR signals =). Now I am just waiting for my IR KIT so I can continue my quest =)

Raspberry Pi User, Sweden

Up and running! VERY NICE! …… THANKS for your prompt attention!

USB IR Toy user, KY USA

Thank You …… Your support is awesome!

Arduino User, Slovakia

Thanks to your outstanding support, I’m already happy with my decision to go with AnalysIR and I haven’t even started the project! I’m looking forward to receiving the Photon shield in the mail so I can get going.

Particle Photon User, Canada

Adding the networking capability to AnalysIR is great for me.

IR Professional - CO, USA

Thank you for such wonderful software.

Arduino User, Russia

What can I say? I’m not a programmer, I’m skilled in hardware, but with AnalysIR software and 2/3 hours, my Samsung AR9000 series AC system is now controlled by Arduino!!! Also tested NodeMCU to acquire the signal and also in this case all works very well! …..Thanks, thanks, thanks!!! A fantastic software!

Arduino User, Italy

I went thru’ your superbly written intro guide and used AnalysIR last night and finally solve my AC IR mystery. Nice piece of SW and well written documentation makes it a pleasure to use.Thank You.

Arduino User, KL - Malaysia

Thanks, it is working! With the correct parameters now I can rework the code for my needs. AnalysIR is a great piece of SW and the support by you guys is exceptional!

ESP8266 User, Sweden

AnalysIR is a great piece of software – very impressive, so well done on developing a very useful tool……..worked first time!

Arduino User, UK

Thanks for making such awesome tool to decode IR Signals.

RPI/LIRC User, India

Thanks, both for the great app. And the update….

AnalysIR User, Denmark

Awesome thanks for the quick reply and great product!!

AnalysIR User, Taiwan

Thank you for the personal response. I love how unique and powerful your software is.

USB IR Toy User, WA USA

I just wanted to say what an awesome program and customer service this has been for me. Your program saved me hours of frustration by helping to identify a firmware issue of my control system, as well as adding commands from captured remotes. You guys rock!

USB IR Toy User, Tx USA

…everything is working like a charm – loving it ! Again, thanks for your quick help and for making such a helpful piece of kit !

Arduino User, Germany

I am using it{AnalysIR} with an IR Toy V2. Already helped me understand a home theater problem I was having.Thanks

USB IR Toy User, NJ USA

Thanks again you guys rock customer service.

AnalysIR User, CT USA

….. now i can send commands to my air conditioner from Arduino , thanks for your support and good software

IRLib User, Israel

Thank you very much for providing support for this protocol and for the checksum. I really appreciate it. I’m glad I decided to buy the program.

AnalysIR Coupon & New Products

Use coupon code 10offanalysir during checkout to get 10% off purchases of AnalysIR software (Maker & Pro Editions only), for a limited time only. Also check out our newly released MakeIR modules & shieldsvia our webshop.